So, What’s Next?

Tiger, Tiger, Tiger. What was the purpose of that 15 minute confession…er ugh…press conference this past Friday? Was it really a press conference? There were no journalists in sight. Questions weren’t being taken by Tiger. Afterwards his mother was the only one who seemed to truly forgive him. His friends (if they are still) looked uncomfortable to be there. Personally I don’t care about his personal life. I’m not here to dwell on his misfortunes. We all have skeletons in our closets, but we only indulge on his because of who he is. It’s fascinating that a person that was deemed untouchable by the tabloids could partake in so much adultery and keep it quiet for so long. Those knuckle heads critiquing Tiger’s speech gave you biased info. Personal opinions of course, but totally one sided. I neither know Tiger or care about him. Whose a better person to critique him than me?

The Bad

I wrote back on December 3rd of last year about the Thanksgiving incident with his wife Elin and gave my version of the events. By no way were they true, but I felt that you needed to hear a different side to it since he wasn’t telling it himself. That’s where this ultimately began to spiral out of control. Others were telling the story for him. Big mistake. You never want anyone to tell a story for you. They will always miss some of the most important details.

“Some people have speculated that Elin somehow hurt or attacked me on Thanksgiving night. It angers me that people would fabricate a story like that. There has never been an episode of domestic violence in our marriage, ever.”

That’s fine, but what happened? It became a public matter when the police got involved and you destroyed a fire hydrant. Yes it is nothing, but there needs to be an explanation. The police wanted one and you said screw you to them. On top of that, you were barefoot and asleep when they arrived. Answer that one question and most of the sane folks will let this go, move on and forget about it.

That went right out the door as soon as you stopped talking. They’ve had a strangle hold on this story right from the jump and won’t let go of it anytime soon. I’m in total agreement that you and anyone else has the right to protect your family from the gutter snipes who patrol the media now a days, but if you don’t grab it first and control it, you will lose 99.9 percent of the time.

The Good

He gets points for finally speaking, but it was 3 months too late. Way too many spoke for him and it has been a train wreck to say the least. However, he seems to have come to grips with his problems and is looking to try and change his ways. He spoke of being selfish, irresponsible, entitled and wrong.

“I recognize I have brought this on myself, and I know above all I am the one who needs to change. I owe it to my family to become a better person.”

It is very hard doing public speaking especially when you are admitting you were wrong. Tiger did the right thing here. Put the focus on you and say that you will change. Whether or not you do is up to you. He will always have those that support him no matter what and those that will never forgive him no matter what. This was a good first step.

“When I do return (to golf), I need to make my behavior more respectful of the game.”

Absolutely he should. My father, who golfs every weekend, respects Tiger’s game, but not the way he conducts himself while playing the game. He’s seen young golfers with talent that slice a ball, hit one in the bunker or hit a bad drive, begin to curse up a storm, swing their club or throw their tee. It doesn’t add anything to the game. Tiger should know that. Yet he had let it get out of hand, but at least he now acknowledges it. Hopefully it will stop because it was getting old. So bad that it was becoming stupid when TV commentators were covering for him.

He seems to have gotten the hint and finally spoke from the heart, but it was clearly written for him. He ultimately signed off it, but most of it was written for him. Whatever happens from here on out will be entirely on him. The things he says he will do to change he’d better do. The things he wants others to change for him will never happen. What’s done is done. You should have grabbed the story before it grabbed you.